Bumblebee booties

Another baby gift. I decided to try something a little creative. This is sort of a hybrid pattern, combining two patterns from Easy Knitted Socks with some added modifications that I came up with. The basic pattern is the textured baby bootees pattern (smallest size), adding stripes following the technique described in the stripy toddler toasties pattern (doubling the width of the stripes). I also added wings with the following pattern:

CO7
Rows 1-4: K1, m1, k until last stitch, m1, K
Rows 5-12: K
Rows 13-16: K1, k2tog, k until two stitches left, k2tog, k
BO knitwise

I made the antennas by picking up a stitch making a couple of rows and binding off. It was a nightmare (particularly trying to get them in the right place, which I was clearly only moderately successful with) and I will never use that technique again if I make another pair of these booties!

Longies for Aiden

My previous soakers were not particularly functional (legs either too tight or way to loose to be used) and have sat in a drawer basically since they were made, so I was reluctant to try another one. After taking a long break to make some other projects, I finally returned to soakers with Mandie's Sheepy Pants pattern. I am very happy with the results, and my wife loves them (I waited until we had used them for awhile before posting this, to make sure this wasn't a repeat of the last two soakers). The pattern was really good and I'll definitely use it again.

Christy's hat

After months of promising Christy that I would knit her something, I made her a hat from a pattern in this book. This was my first attempt at cables. I made a few modifications to lengthen it, remove the ribbing between the cables, and change to ribbing at the bottom of the hat to k2p2 so that the cables look like they start in the ribbing (a modification I saw on knittingelephant's version of this hat on ravelry).

Aiden's new booties

Aiden has finally outgrown the first pair of booties I made him, so I made a bigger pair from another pattern in the same book. I’m getting better at modifying patterns to add holes for a tie. I used the same technique as in the tight knitted boxy mittens pattern, binding off two stitches in one row and then m2k stitches I the same place on the next row. It makes for good, sturdy holes that don’t disappear as the pattern is stretched and pulled. I’m still looking for a good alternative to an i-cord (I made a double-stranded one this time to match the two colors in the booties).

The evolution of a mitten

I've been working on improving my boxy mitten design. It started out as a loose knit (size 7 needles) pattern (not so great for the cold) with no holes for a cord. On that pattern, I made a thin cord and just threaded it through between stitches. The next version had a tighter knit (size 3 needles) and an attempt to make holes for a cord, but the holes were too small, complicated to make because they had a top and bottom (based on a space between the holes) that flipped between the left and right needle and ended up with two holes very close together at the scene. The final design (tight knit version) now has the same tight knit, bigger, well defined holes, and a placement that is identical for the left and right needle, including a much easier pattern to follow.

Booties for my cousin's baby

My cousin is pregnant, so I decided to make a pair of booties for her baby using a pattern I used for Aiden's first booties. When Aiden was born, we got a few hand-knitted baby items, and they were very special, so I wanted to follow that tradition. I've already got another pair of booties planed for some friends of ours that are expecting.

Aiden's ear flap hat

With winter starting and an upcoming trip to the midwest,I made Aiden an ear flap hat, with some added stitching and pompoms suggested by my wife.